PUBLICATIONS  OF  THE  VANDEBBILT  SOUTHERN 
HISTORY  SOCIETY 


No.  4 


A  CHAPTER  OF  SOUTH  CAROLINA 
CONSTITUTIONAL  HISTORY 


•UNIVERSITY  of  CALIFORNIA 
AT 

ANGELES 
LIBRARY 


DAVID  DUNCAN  WALLACE,  Ph.D., 

Adjunct  Professor  of  History  and  Economics  in  Wofford  College 


NASHVILLE,  TENN. 

CUMBERLAND  PRESBYTERIAN  PUBLISHING  HOUSE 
1900 


0498 


PUBLICATIONS  OF   THE   VANDERBILT   SOUTHERN   HISTORY 

SOCIETY 


1.  "The  Study  of  Southern  History."     By  Prof.  W.  P.  Trent, 

University  of  the  South. 

2.  "  Elihu  Embree,  Abolitionist."    By  Rev.  E.  E.  Hoss,  D.D., 

Editor  Nashville  Christian  Advocate. 

3.  "The  Credit  System  and  the  Public  Domain."      By  C.  F. 

Emerick,   Ph.D.,   Instructor    in    Economics,  Vanderbilt 
University. 

4.  "  A  Chapter  of  South  Carolina  Constitutional  History."    By 

D.  D.  Wallace,  PhD.,  Adjunct  Professor  of  History  and 
Economics  in  Wofford  College. 


The  Arrival  of  the  Tea  and  the  Origin  of  its  Extra-legal  Organs  of  Revolution. 


BY  DAVID  DUNCAN  WALLACE,  PH.D.,  ADJUNCT  PROFESSOR  OF 
HISTORY  AND  ECONOMICS  IN  WOFFORD  COLLEGE. 


Arrival  of  tea,  December  2,  1773— Mass  meeting:,  December  4— Con- 
signees resign — Resolutions  and  committee — Mass  meeting-,  Decem- 
ber 17 — Threats— Customs  officers  unload  and  store  tea,  December 
22 — More  tea  arrives,  June  26,  1774— Ship  captain  promises  to  de- 
stroy or  take  it  away — Allows  officers  to  unload  and  store  it — And 
is  called  to  account  by  the  General  Committee  and  pursued  by  a 
mob— More  tea  arrives,  July  19— By  consent  of  General  Committee 
officers  store  it — More  tea  arrives,  November  1 — Is  emptied  into  the 
harbor,  as  is  also  a  quantity  in  Georgetown — Large  amount  of 
smuggled  tea  is  shipped  away,  November  3— Untrue  account  gen- 
erally given  about  the  tea — Tea  is  finally  sold  by  order  of  the  legis- 
lature, 1776— Mass  meeting  of  January  20,  1774— Large  standing 
committee  appointed  then — Committee  calls  a  mass  meeting  for 
March  3 — Which  is  postponed  to  March  9,  and  then  to  March  16 — 
Meeting  of  March  16— Mammoth  meeting  called  for  July  6 — Descrip- 
tion of  this  meeting  of  July  6,  7  and  8 — Brief  taste  of  manhood  suf- 
frage— General  committee  of  ninety-nine  appointed — November  9, 
General  Committee  summons  First  Provincial  Congress  to  meet 
January  11,  1775.  '• 

On  Wednesday  evening,  December  2, 1773,  the  London,  from  London, 
Capt.  Alexander  Curling,  arrived  in  Charleston.  On  board  were  two 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  chests  of  East  India  Company  tea.  A  few 
sporadic  chests  had  before  been  imported  unsuspected  among  great 
quantities  of  other  merchandise ;  but  the  arrival  of  this  large  cargo 
raised  the  issue  specifically.  The  city  was  thrown  into  great  commo- 
tion. Thursday  morning  appeared  handbills  and  placards,  calling  for 
a  mass  meeting  of  all  the  citizens  of  the  province,  and  especially  land 
owners,  in  the  Great  Hall  over  the  Exchange,  near  the  wharves,  at 
three  o'clock  Friday  afternoon. 

Col.  G.  G.  Powell  was  elected  chairman  of  this  meeting.  A  resolu- 
tion was  adopted  neither  to  import  nor  to  buy  any  tea  liable  to  duty  for 
raising  a  revenue  in  America.  The  consignees  of  the  newly  arrived 
cargo,  Mr.  Roger  Smith  and  Messrs.  Leger  &  Greenwood,  were  sum- 
moned, and  were  requested  to  resign.  This  they'did,  amid  great  ap- 
plause. Capt.  Curling  was  confounded  at  this  turn  of  affiairs,  and 
asked  how  he  should  avoid  the  trouble  in  which  this  would  inevitably 
involve  him.  He  was  answered,  "  By  keeping  all  the  tea  on  board  his 
vessel  and  returning  with  it  to  England."  A  committee,  with  Christo- 
pher Gadsden  for  chairman,  was  appointed  to  secure  signatures  all 


4        A  Chapter  of  South  Carolina  Constitutional  History. 

over  the  province  to  the  agreement  regarding  tea,  and  the  meeting  ad- 
journed. But  let  us  note  that  their  committee  continued  to  exist  and 
act. 

A  few  days  later  a  more  amply  expressed  agreement  to  the  same  ef- 
fect as  that  promulgated  by  the  meeting,  with  a  threat  of  boycott 
againstlnon-signers,  was  put  out  for  signatures.  No  taxing  of  America 
by  the  British  Parliament  was  the  preamble.  (South  Carolina  Gazette, 
December  6,  1773.) 

On  December  17,  a  second  mass  meeting  was  held,  from  ten  to  three 
o'clock,  with  the  same  gentleman  for  chairman.  It  was  resolved  that 
the  tea  ought  not  to  be  landed  ;  but  no  steps  were  taken  to  prevent  it 
by  force  if  it  should  be  attempted.  Notice  of  business  which  would  be 
considered  at  the  next  meeting  was  given  and  adjournment  was  or- 
dered. (South  Carolina  Gazette,  December  20,  1773.)  We  observe  that 
the  "  General  Meeting  "  was  coming  to  be  a  regular  organization,  with 
the  same  chairman  on  successive  occasions,  a  standing  committee,  and 
business  proposed  to  be  discussed  at  a  future  time.  All  this  tended  to 
give  continuity  to  the  institution. 

By  the  port  regulations,  a  cargo  arriving  could  not  remain  longer 
than  twenty  days  unloaded.  If  no  consignee  took  charge  of  it,  the  cus- 
toms officers  would  seize  and  store  it  in  the  king's  warehouse,  or  some 
place  secured  for  the  purpose.  Anonymous  threatening  letters  were 
received  by  Capt.  Curling  and  the  owners  of  the  wharf  where  the  Lon- 
don lay,  ordering  her  removal  to  the  middle  of  the  river.  It  was  de- 
clared by  individuals  that  the  tea  should  not  be  landed.  No  consignee 
calling  for  it,  the  customs  officers  very  early  on  the  morning  of  Decem- 
ber 22  removed  it  quite  hastily  from  the  vessel  and  stored  it  under  the 
Exchange,  in  a  cellar  which  had  been  hired  for  the  purpose.  Lieuten- 
ant Governor  Bull  had  taken  what  precautions  he  could  against  vio- 
lence ;  but  not  a  man  appeared  to  interrupt  the  officers. 

So  as  not  to  interrupt  the  train  of  thought  later,  I  shall  violate 
chronology  by  inserting  here  the  remaining  history  of  the  tea.  On 
June  26,  1774,  Capt.  Richard  Maitland  arrived  in  Charleston  with  three 
chests  of  tea  in  his  cargo.  His  vessel,  like  all  the  tea-bearing  ships, 
was  from  London.  By  this  time  the  extra-legal  organizations  were 
almost  complete,  and  there  was  a  strong  General  Committee  to  look 
after  non-importation.  Capt.  Maitland  said  he  did  not  know  that  the 
tea  was  on  board  until  he  had  gotten  under  wav,  and  promised  the 
committee  to  destroy  the  stuff  or  carry  it  back  to  England.  But  after 
getting  his  cargo  of  rice  safely  on  board,  he  allowed  the  customs  offi- 
cers to  land  and  store  the  tea  in  the  same  way  they  had  done  the  cargo 
in  the  preceding  December.  After  much  accusation  and  altercation  in 
the  General  Committee,  Maitland  promised  to  burn  the  tea  on  the 
wharf  in  their  presence  the  next  -day.  But  this  proving  impossible 
without  bursting  open  the  king's  storehouse,  it  was  dispensed  with. 
To  be  thus  deceived  and  circumvented  incensed  the  citizens,  and  that 
evening  a  party  of  several  hundred  went  with  great  threats,  but  not  of 
murder,  in  quest  of  Capt.  Maitland.  As  they  boarded  his  vessel  on  one 


A  Chapter  of  South  Carolina  Constitutional  History.        5 

side,  he  escaped  from  the  other  and  took  refuge  on  His  Majesty's  Ship 
the  Glasgow.  The  next  morning-,  by  Capt.  Malthy's  aid,  he  got  his 
vessel  out  of  the  harbor  and  sailed  away.  (South  Carolina  Gazette, 
July  25,  1774.  For  this  and  all  the  tea  matters  of  1773-4,  see  Pub.  Rec. 
S.  C.,  MSS.,  xxxiii.,  350;  xxxiv.  181  For  the  first  cargo,  Council 
Jour.,  xxxviii,  8.) 

On  July  19  a  third  lot  of  tea,  consisting  of  nine  chests,  arrived  in  the 
Briton.  The  General  Committee  allowed  it  to  be  stored  by  the  customs 
officers.  Urquhart  was  summoned  before  the  committee  and  ordered  to 
explain  his  disobedience  to  the  command  of  the  General  Meeting  pub- 
lished to  all  masters  of  vessels  not  to  bring  dutiable  tea  to  South  Caro- 
lina. Urquhart  pleaded  that  he  did  not  know  that  this  small  quantity 
was  on  board  until  he  arrived  in  port  and  looked  over  his  papers. 

On  November  14,  fourteen  packages,  or  seven  "  chests,"  arrived  by 
the  Britannia,  Capt.  Ball.  Capt.  Ball  was  summoned,  like  the  other 
captains,  before  the  General  Committee.  The  result  was  that  on 
Thursday,  the  3rd,  at  noon,  in  the  words  of  Printer  Timothy,  "  an  ob- 
lation was  made  to  Neptune,"  in  the  presence  of  the  Committee  of  Ob- 
servation and  a  crowd  of  citizens,  who  shouted  thrice  as  each  package 
was  emptied  into  the  Cooper.  At  Georgetown  likewise  the  water  was 
spinkled  with  the  cheerful,  uninebriating  drug. 

On  November  3,  669  pounds  of  Bohea  that  had  been  smuggled  in 
were  reshipped  to  the  ports  from  whence  it  came,  to  show  that  the  peo- 
ple did  not  reject  dutied  tea  simply  to  use  undutied  and  save  the  small 
amount  of  money.  (South  Carolina  Gazette,  November  21  and  Decem- 
ber 12,  1774.) 

This  is  the  truth  about  the  tea  in  South  Carolina.  Nobody  "  threw 
it  into  damp  cellars,  where  it  rotted,"  as  has  for  so  long  been  fabulously 
related.  It  lay  in  the  storehouses  for  about  three  years.  In  1776,  the 
"President"  of  South  Carolina  wrote  to  the  delegation  in  the  Conti- 
nental Congress,  directing  them  to  get  permission  from  that  body  to 
sell  all  the  tea  for  the  benefit  of  the  treasury  of  South  Carolina.  The 
Congress  seemed  inclined  to  decide  that  the  money  should  go  to  the 
general  cause,  or  be  appropriated  to  reimburse  Americans  whose  prop- 
erty had  been  confiscated  in  England,  The  South  Carolina  delegation 
argured  strenuously  against  this.  But  as  the  decision  seemed  likely  to 
go  against  them  if  brought  to  a  vote,  by  the  consent  of  Congress  they 
withdrew  the  motion  and  wrote  advising  the  South  Carolina  Legisla- 
ture to  sell  the  tea  immediately.  Accordingly,  on  the  27th  of  September, 
1776,  a  bill  was  passed  ordering  the  tea  sold  and  the  money  applied  to 
the  public  service.  It  seems  that  the  Legislature  wanted  everybody 
in  South  Carolina  to  get  some  of  that  tea  ;  for  it  was  to  be  disposed  of 
in  quantities  not  exceeding  twelve  pounds.  (House  of  Reps.  Jour.  S. 
C.,  1776,  MSS.,  169,  131-133,  109;  Statutes  at  Large  of  S.  C.,  iv.,  352. 
See  also  advertisements  of  the  commissioners  appointed  to  sell  the  tea  ; 
e.  g.,  S.  C.  and  Amer.  Gen.  Gaz.,  September  25,  October  2,  1776.) 

The  tea  was  of  great  importance  in  South  Carolina  history  for  sev- 
eral reasons.  It  was  the  immediate  occasion  of  the  organization  of  the 


6        A  Chapter  of  South  Carolina  Constitutional  History. 

people  in  the  "  General  Meeting,"  in  which  the  Revolutian  was  initiated. 

On  January  20,  1774,  a  mass  meeting  of  great  importance  was  held. 
It  did  not  enter  upon  general  business,  as  the  Lieutenant  Governor  had 
prorogued  the  General  Assembly,  whose  members  would  have  been  the 
most  important  constituency  of  the  extra-legal  body.  What  gives  the 
meeting  of  January  20  importance  is  that  on  that  day  the  organization 
was  systematized  and  made  permanent  by  the  appointment  of  a  large 
standing  committee.  I  have  no  means  of  ascertaining  its  exact  num- 
ber. A  quorum  was  fifteen,  and  vacancies  were  filled  by  co-optation. 
This  committee  was  to  digest  and  plan  business  for  the  "General 
Meeting,"  which  they  were  to  call  at  any  time  they  thought  needful. 
They  were  charged  especially  that  if  any  attempt  should  be  made  to 
remove  or  sell  the  tea,  they  should  summon  the  whole  citizenship  of 
Charleston  and  take  every  measure  in  their  power  to  prevent  it.  The 
importance  of  the  appointment  of  this  committee  can  hardly  be  too 
much  emphasized.  The  extra-legal  organizations  by  that  became  per- 
manent and  stable.  (South  Carolina  Gazette  January  24,  1774.) 

The  first  call  by  the  new  committee  for  a  General  Meeting  was  for 
March  3.  All  the  citizens  of  the  province  were  invited  to  assemble  at 
"Liberty  Tree."  But  on  the  appointed  day  the  weather  was  exces- 
sively bad  ;  so  "  every  man  that  had  the  good  of  his  country  at  heart  " 
was  summoned  by  placard  for  the  9th.  (South  Carolina  Gazette,  Feb- 
ruary 14,  February  21,  March  7,  1774.)  I  infer  that  for  some  reason  no 
meeting  was  held  on  the  9th,  for  I  discover  no  allusion  to  any.  On 
March  16,  however,  there  was  a  meeting  of  importance.  The  sale  of  the 
tea  or  it£  removal,  except  to  be  returned  to  England,  was  positively 
forbidden;  non-importation  of  the  article  and  the  boycott  were  enforced. 
More  important,  from  the  constitutional  standpoint,  the  standing 
"General  Committee  "  was  given  power,  as  it  had  before,  to  call  the 
General  Meeting,  and  was  also  vested  with  authority  to  enforce  the 
Meeting's  resolutions.  Thus  a  distinct  executive  was  fairly  developed. 
(South  Carolina  Gazette  March  21,  1774.): 

On  the  receipt  of  the  news  of  the  Boston  Port  Bill  and  the  resolutions 
regarding  it  by  the  Boston  Town  Meeting,  the  General  Committee  is- 
sued a  call  for  a  General  Meeting  to  convene  on  July  6..  (South  Carolina 
Gazette  June,  20, 1774 ;  Ramsey.  Hist,  of  Rev.  of  S.  C.  from  a  Brit.  Prov. 
to  an  Indepen.  State,  i.,  17, 18,)  It  is  with  this  meeting  of  July  6,  1774, 
that  all  histories,  hitherto  published,  touching  the  subject,  begin. 
Some  go  far  enough  to  say  that  it  was  called  by  the  General  Commit- 
tee. The  foregoing  narration  of  the  events  since  December  4,  1773, 
shows  the  incorrectness  of  beginning  the  extra-legal  organization  with 
July,  1774.  Such  a  treatment  is  very  misleading  and  very  unsatisfac- 
tory. 

On  July  6,  1774,  the  fifth  General  Meeting  since  the  arrival  of  the 
tea  convened  in  the  Exchange  in  Charleston.  Col.  G.  G.  Powell  was 
again  chairman,  The  most  respectable  citizens  from  all  over  the  prov- 
ince appeared.  Every  member  of  the  Commons  House  of  Assembly 
participated,  except  six  whose  presence  was  unavoidably  prevented. 


A  Chapter  of  South  Carolina  Constitutional  History.        7 

Printer  Timothy  says  it  was  the  largest  body  of  the  most  respectable 
citizens  ever  gathered  in  the  province.  Whether  this  vague  description 
means  that  it  was  the  largest  body  of  citizens  ever  assembled  and  that 
these  were  also  the  most  respectable  citizens ;  or  that  there  had  been 
larger  assemblies,  but  not  so  respectable,  it  is  impossible  to  determine. 
But  whether  the  statement  is  strictly  accurate  or  not,  from  the  phrase- 
ology itself  and  from  evidence  that  will  presently  appear,  I  incline  to 
the  former  interpretation.  Whether  there  were  actually  more  persons 
present  than  on  some  occasions  during  the  Stamp  Act  agitation  is  of  no 
real  consequence.  At  all  events,  it  was  certainly  a  very  large  and 
representative  gathering,  far  the  largest  of  the  kind  that  had  yet  taken 
place,  and  indeed  the  largest  of  that  particular  kind  that  ever'assembled 
in  South  Carolina.  It  was  such  an  example  of  pure  democracy  as  has 
rarely  been  seen  since  the  days  of  the  ancient  city  republics.  The 
Meeting  remained  in  session  three  days,  unlike  its  predecessors,  upon 
none  of  which  two  suns  had  risen. 

On  Wednesday,  the  6th,  was  adopted  a  Bill  of  Rights  almost  identi- 
cal in  great  part  with  that  of  the  Commons  House  of  Assembly  in  1765. 
Taxation,  representation,  jury  trial,  treason  and  the  Acts  of  Parlia- 
ment against  Boston  were  all  dealt  with. 

On  Thursday,  the  7th,  five  delegates  to  the  Continental  Congress  to 
meet  in  September  were  elected.  This  election  is  important  for  two 
reasons  :  first,  it  signifies  the  power  and  the  firmly  established  charac- 
ter which  the  General  Meeting  as  an  institution  had  attained  ;  second, 
every  free  white  man  resident  in  the  province  was  allowed  to  vote. 
Manhood  suffrage,  the  attainment  of  distant  after  years,  was  now  fore- 
shadowed and  momentarily  experienced.  In  this  election  a  ballot  box 
was  used,  as  in  the  regular  elections  for  assemblymen.  The  poll  was 
from  two  till  five  o'clock  P.M.  A  rough  idea  of  the  large  number  of 
votes  cast  and  the  size  of  the  concourse  may  be  formed  from  the  fact 
that  the  result  was  not  declared  until  midnight.  Messrs.  Henry  Mid- 
dletown,  John  Rutledge,  Thomas  Lynch,  Christopher  Gadsden  and  Ed- 
ward Rutledge  were  then  announced  as  chosen  to  Congress.  This 
choice  was  confirmed  by  the  Commons  House  of  Assembly  on  August 
2,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  Lieutenant  Governor  Bull  to  prevent  it. 

On  Friday,  the  8th,  Rawlins  Lowndes  was  made  chairman,  while 
Powell  attended  to  some  special  business.  A  new  General  Committee 
was  elected,  increased  to  the  number  of  ninety-nine.  It  was  to  have 
full  powers  during  the  adjournment  of  the  General  Meeting,  and  was 
to  act  as  a  Committee  of  Correspondence.  In  numbers,  power  and 
functions  here  are  three  steps  forward. 

This  perfected  form  of  the  General  Committee  was  a  great  advance 
in  the  revolutionary  organizations.  On  the  evening  of  the  very  day  of 
its  election  it  met  and  chose  Charles  Pinkney  for  its  president  and  re- 
solved to  hold  a  session  regularly  every  two  weeks,  on  Wednesdays. 
(South  Carolina  Gazette,  July  11,  1774,  Pub.  Rec.  S.  C.,  MSS.,  xxxiv., 
177,  188  ;  South  Carolina  and  American  General  Gazette,  July  1-8,  1774 ; 
Coin.  Journal  South  Carolina,  MSS.  xxxix.,  pt.  II.,  172.  These  author- 


8         A  Clmpter  of  South  Carolina  Constitutional  History. 

ities  for  the  meeting  of  July  6-8,  1774,  are  arranged  in  the  order  of 
their  importance  and  excellence.  The  first  is  worth  many  times  all 
the  others  together.  In  the  second,  however,  there  is  some  valuable 
information  in  Bull's  official  corresphndence.) 

Thus  we  see  the  General  Meeting  has  become  a  rough  organization 
of  the  whole  province,  and  the  General  Committee  a  permanent  body 
during  the  former's  adjournment  with  many  fu*ctions  of  government. 
All  this  has  been  an  uninterrupted  development  from  Dec.  4,  1773, 
when  both  the  "  Meeting  "  and  the  "  Committee  "  originated.  The 
previous  organizations  of  the  non-importation  association  served  only 
as  examples.  There  was  no  organic  connection  between  them  and 
those  of  1773-4. 

The  word  "  Meeting  "  was  used  to  describe  a  concourse  in  which  all 
the  citizens  were  invited  actively  to  participate ;  "  Committee,"  to  des- 
ignate a  fixed  body  with  defined  functions  which  was  composed  of  cer- 
tain selected  individuals. 

On  November  9,  the  General  Committee,  gave  a  great  banquet  to 
their  returned  delegates  from  Philadelphia.  "  May  the  persecuted 
Genius  of  Liberty  find  a  lasting  asylum  in  America,"  "  The  much  in- 
jured town  of  Boston  and  the  colony  of  Massdiusetts  Bay,"  and  more 
than  a  score  of  other  patriotic  toasts  were  on  the  programme.  That 
same  day  the  Committee  issues  the  call  for  a  "  General  Provincia 
Committee,"  to  be  composed  of  elected  delegates  from  every  section  of 
the  province.  It  was  to  meet  on  January  11,  1775.  (  South  Carolina 
Gazette,  November  21,  1774).  The  fact  that  it  was  not  to  be  an  open 
mass  meeting  gave  it  the  title  of  Committee.  But  the  organization 
thus  called  into  existence  was  of  too  important  a  nature  for  such  an 
appellation  to  be  suitable.  It  was  ever  after  known  by  a  more  digni- 
fied name  ;  this  was  no  other  than  the  First  Provincial  Congress. 

The  anti-tea  meeting  in  the  Exchange,  on  December  4,  1773,  has 
grown  by  steady  and  uninterrupted  progress  to  the  First  Provincial 
Congress.  What  will  this  Provincial  Congress  grow  into?  Let  me 
again  emphasize  the  fact  that >>  the  revolutionary  legislature  or  its  pro- 
genitor did  not  originate  in  the  great  mass  meeting  of  July  6,  7,  and  8, 
1775,  but  in  a  much  less  presumptuous  one  on  December  4, 1773.  Institu- 
tions do  not  leap  instantly  into  maturity,  any  more  than  human  beings 
are  born  adult  men  without  an  infancy. 


100498 


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CP  ^B 

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I^VJ  *. 

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UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    001  123219    6 


